Drolma Lhakhang Monastery... outside

The whole complex is surrounded by a thick white wall, with only a giant front gate as a means of entry or exit. Inside these walls there was a sweet garden planted with roses, and a line of prayer wheels surrounding the entire inner chapel and courtyard. Yes, I spun every prayer wheel here. The flow of people that day was sporadic. For long periods of time we were the only visitors, with the place to ourselves. But, suddenly, a bus would pull up packed with pilgrims. People would pour out with their offerings of yak butter and stacks of jiao, enter the complex and (as we began to refer to it) "get er done". Like I said, this place was relatively small and the whole kora could be walked, including spinning all the wheels, in about 12 minutes. Visiting the inner chapels( which includes leaving the yak butter in the butter bowls AND leaving a few jiaos with every image and diety AND chanting your personal mantra continually) takes only 5 or 10 more minutes, and then they were back on the bus and gone. We learned quickly to clear the way when we saw a passle of pilgrims headed in. They meant business and they were there to do one thing... get er done!!